Musicians of the RMS Titanic
The Musicians of the RMS ''Titanic'' all perished with the ship when it sank in 1912. They played music, intending to calm the passengers, for as long as they possibly could and all went down with the ship. All were recognized for their heroism. The ship's eight-member orchestra boarded at Southampton and travelled as second-class passengers. They were not on the payroll of the White Star Line, but were contracted to White Star by the Liverpool firm of C.W. & F.N. Black, who placed musicians on almost all British liners. Until the night of the sinking, the orchestra performed as two separate entities: a quintet led by violinist and official bandleader Wallace Hartley, that played at teatime, after-dinner concerts, and Sunday services, among other occasions; and the violin, cello and piano trio of Roger Bricoux, George Krins and Theodore Brailey, that played at the À La Carte Restaurant and the Café Parisien. List of musicians Theodore Ronald Brailey |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = , Atlantic Ocean |occupation = Pianist |spouse = |religion = |parents = }} Theodore Ronald Brailey (25 October 1887 – 15 April 1912) was an English pianist on the on its maiden voyage. He died in the disaster. Theodore Ronald Brailey was born on 25 October 1887 in Walthamstow, Essex. His father, William "Ronald" Brailey, was a well-known figure of Spiritualism at the time. He studied piano at school and one of his first jobs was playing piano in a local hotel. In 1902 he joined the Royal Lancashire Fusiliers regiment signing for 12 years service as a musician. He was stationed in Barbados but resigned his commission prematurely in 1907. He returned to England and lived at 71 Lancaster Road, Ladbroke Grove, London. In 1911, he enlisted aboard ship, playing first on the , prior to joining the Cunard steamer in 1912, where he met the French cellist Roger Marie Bricoux. Both men then joined the White Star Line and were recruited by Liverpool music agency, C.W. and F.N. Black, to serve on the Brailey boarded the Titanic on Wednesday 10 April 1912 in Southampton, UK. His ticket number was 250654, the ticket for all the members of Wallace Hartley's orchestra. His cabin was in the 2nd class quarters. After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Brailey and his fellow band members started playing music to help keep the passengers calm as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that he and the band continued to play until the very end. One second class passenger said: "Many brave things were done that night, but none were more brave than those done by men playing minute after minute as the ship settled quietly lower and lower in the sea. The music they played served alike as their own immortal requiem and their right to be recalled on the scrolls of undying fame." Brailey was 24 years old when he died. His body was never recovered. Roger Marie Bricoux |birth_place = Cosne-sur-Loire, France |death_date = |death_place = , Atlantic Ocean |occupation = Cellist |spouse = |religion = |parents = }} Roger Marie Bricoux (1 June 1891 – 15 April 1912) was a French cellist on the on its maiden voyage. He died in the disaster. Roger Bricoux was born on 1 June 1891 in rue de Donzy, Cosne-sur-Loire, France. He was the son of a musician and the family moved to Monaco when he was a young boy. He was educated in various Catholic institutions in Italy. It was during his studies that he joined his first orchestra and won first prize at the Conservatory of Bologna for musical ability. After studying at the Paris Conservatory, he moved to England in 1910 to join the orchestra in the Grand Central Hotel in Leeds. At the end of 1911, he moved to Lille, France, living at 5 Place du Lion d’Or and played in various locations throughout the city. Before joining the Titanic, Bricoux and pianist Theodore Ronald Brailey had served together on the Cunard steamer before joining the White Star Line He boarded the Titanic on Wednesday 10 April 1912 in Southampton, UK. His ticket number was 250654, the ticket for all the members of Wallace Hartley's orchestra. His cabin was 2nd class and he was the only French musician aboard the Titanic. After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Bricoux and his fellow band members started playing music to help keep the passengers calm as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that he and the band continued to play until the very end. One second class passenger said: "Many brave things were done that night, but none were more brave than those done by men playing minute after minute as the ship settled quietly lower and lower in the sea. The music they played served alike as their own immortal requiem and their right to be recalled on the scrolls of undying fame." Bricoux was 20 years old when he died. His body was never recovered. In 1913, after his apparent disappearance, he was declared a "deserter" by the French army. It was not until 2000 that he was eventually officially registered as dead in France, mainly due to the efforts of the Association Française du Titanic. On 2 November 2000, the same association unveiled a memorial plaque to Bricoux in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire. Wallace Henry Hartley |birth_place = Colne, Lancashire, England |death_date = |death_place = , Atlantic Ocean |occupation = Violinist, Bandleader |spouse = |religion = Methodist Christian |parents = }} Wallace Henry Hartley (2 June 1878 – 15 April 1912) was an English violinist and bandleader on the on its maiden voyage. He became famous for leading the eight member band as the ship sank on 15 April 1912. He died in the sinking. In March of 2013, after two years of in-depth forensic testing, it was announced that it had been determined a violin found in a British man's attic inside a leather case with the initials "W. H. H." was the instrument used by Hartley, who according to lore played, "Nearer My God to Thee" during the ship's last moments. The identification was helped by an engraving on the violin which his fiancee (Maria Robinson) had placed on the instrument in 1910 which read: 'For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement from Maria.' Further tests by a silver expert from the Gemological Association of Great Britain confirmed that the plate on the base of the violin was original and that the metal engraving done on behalf of Maria Robinson was contemporary with those made in 1910. Finally, while researching the origins of the violin, the auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son, and a biographer of Wallace Hartley discovered the transcript of a telegram sent to the Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia, Canada, dated July 19, 1912 in the diary of Hartley's grieving fiance, Ms. Robinson, in which she stated: :"I would be most grateful if you could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the return of my late fiance's violin." This telegram establishes that Hartley's fiancee did receive the returned violin within three months of the Titanic's sinking in April 1912. Life and career Wallace Hartley was born and raised in Colne, Lancashire, England. Hartley's father, Albion Hartley, was the choirmaster and Sunday school superintendent at Bethel Independent Methodist Chapel, where the family attended worship services. Hartley himself introduced the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee" to the congregation. Wallace studied at Colne's Methodist day school, sang in Bethel's choir and learned violin from a fellow congregation member. After leaving school, Hartley started work with the Craven & Union Bank in Colne. When his family moved to Huddersfield, Hartley joined the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1903, he left home to join the municipal orchestra in Bridlington, where he stayed for six years. He later moved to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire and in 1909, he joined the Cunard Line as a musician, serving on the ocean liners , and . Whilst serving on the Mauretania, the employment of Cunard musicians was transferred to the music agency C.W. & F.N. Black, which supplied musicians for Cunard and the White Star Line. This transfer changed Hartley's onboard status, as he was no longer counted as a member of the crew, but rather as a passenger, albeit one accommodated in second-class accommodation at the agency's expense. It later transpired that neither the shipping company nor the music agency had insured the musicians, with each claiming it was the other's responsibility. In April 1912, Hartley was assigned to be the bandmaster for the White Star Line ship . He was at first hesitant to again leave his fiancée, Maria Robinson, to whom he had recently proposed, but Hartley decided that working on the maiden voyage of the Titanic would give him possible contacts for future work. Apart from his short tenure as leader of the band on the Titanic, Hartley is also known for introducing the tritone substitution to ballroom dance music. Sinking of the Titanic After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Hartley and his fellow band members started playing music to help keep the passengers calm as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that he and the band continued to play until the very end. None of the band members survived the sinking and the story of them playing to the end became a popular legend. One survivor who clambered aboard 'Collapsible A' claimed to have seen Hartley and his band standing just behind the first funnel, by the Grand Staircase. He went on to say that he saw three of them washed off while the other five held on to the railing on top the Grand Staircase's deckhouse, only to be dragged down with the bow, just before Hartley exclaimed, "Gentlemen, I bid you farewell!" A newspaper at the time reported "the part played by the orchestra on board the Titanic in her last dreadful moments will rank among the noblest in the annals of heroism at sea." Though the final song played by the band is unknown, "Nearer, My God, to Thee" has gained popular acceptance. Former bandmates claimed that Hartley had said he would play either "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" if he was ever on a sinking ship, but Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember popularised wireless officer Harold Bride's account of hearing the song "Autumn". After the sinking Hartley's body was recovered by the ''Mackay–Bennett'' almost two weeks after the sinking, reportedly found "fully dressed with his violin strapped to his body". He was transferred to the Arabic and sent to England. Hartley's funeral took place in Colne on 18 May 1912. One thousand people attended his funeral, while 40,000 lined the route of his funeral procession. Hartley is buried in Colne, where a 10-foot headstone, containing a carved violin at its base, was erected in his honour. A memorial to Hartley, topped by his bust, was erected in 1915 outside the Albert Street Methodist Church in Colne where Hartley began his musical career. Hartley's large Victorian terraced house in West Park Street, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, bears a blue plaque to remind passers-by that this was the bandleader's home. As of 2001, Hartley's name was still being used when naming new streets and housing in the town of Colne. In 2008, the pub chain J D Wetherspoon named a newly opened pub, (the building having been the long-standing King's Head Hotel up until the mid 1990s),http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-wallace-hartley in Colne after the bandleader. Portrayals *Charles Belchier (1958) (A Night to Remember) *Victor Langley (1979) (S.O.S. Titanic) *Jonathan Evans-Jones (1997) (Titanic) John Law Hume |birth_place = Dumfries, Scotland |death_date = |death_place = , Atlantic Ocean |occupation = Violinist |spouse = |religion = |parents = }} John Law Hume (9 August 1890 – 15 April 1912) was a Scottish violinist on the on its maiden voyage. He died in the disaster. John Law Hume (also known as 'Jock') was born on 9 August 1890 in Dumfries, Scotland and lived with his parents at 42 George Street, Dumfries. He had already played on at least five ships before the Titanic. He was recruited to play on the maiden voyage due to his good reputation as a musician. He boarded the Titanic on Wednesday 10 April 1912 in Southampton, UK. His ticket number was 250654, the ticket for all the members of Wallace Hartley's orchestra. His cabin was in the 2nd class quarters. After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Hume and his fellow band members assembled in the first class lounge and started playing music to help keep the passengers calm. They later moved to the forward half of the boat deck, where they continued to play as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that he and the band continued to play until the very end. One second class passenger said: "Many brave things were done that night, but none were more brave than those done by men playing minute after minute as the ship settled quietly lower and lower in the sea. The music they played served alike as their own immortal requiem and their right to be recalled on the scrolls of undying fame." Hume was 21 years old when he died, unaware that his fiancée, Mary Costin, was pregnant with his child. His body was recovered by the [[CS Mackay-Bennett|CS Mackay-Bennett]], a cable repair ship, owned by the Commercial Cable Company, registered in London. He was buried in grave 193 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Wednesday 8 May 1912. A memorial was erected for John Law Hume and Thomas Mullin (third class steward) in Dock Park, Dumfries. It reads: Hume and the other members of Wallace Hartley's orchestra were all members of the Amalgamated British Musicians Union and were employed by a Liverpool music agency, C.W. and F.N. Black, which supplied musicians for Cunard and the White Star Line. On 30 April 1912 Jock Hume's father, Andrew, received the following note from the agency: The letter caused controversy at the time when it was reprinted in the Amalgamated Musicians Union's monthly newsletter. Andrew Law Hume decided not to settle the bill. Georges Alexandre Krins |birth_place = Paris, France |death_date = |death_place = , Atlantic Ocean |occupation = Cellist |spouse = |religion = |parents = }} Georges Alexandre Krins (18 March 1889 – 15 April 1912) was a Belgian violinist on the on its maiden voyage. He died in the disaster. Georges Alexandre Krins was born on 18 March 1889 in Paris, France. His family was from Belgium and soon after his birth they moved back there to the town of Spa. He first studied at Academie de Musique de Spa. He then moved to the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Liège, Belgium where he studied from 30 October 1902 until 1908 where he won first prize for violin, with the highest distinction. As a young man he wanted to join the army; however his parents persuaded him otherwise. He worked in his father's shop and played in La Grande Symphonie, Spa. In 1910, he moved to Paris to be first violin at Le Trianon Lyrique. He subsequently moved to London and played for two years at the Ritz Hotel until March 1912. He lived at 10 Villa Road, Brixton, London and became bandmaster of the Trio String Orchestra which played near the Café Français. This led to him being recruited by CW & FN Black, Liverpool to play on the Titanic. He boarded the Titanic on Wednesday 10 April 1912 in Southampton, UK. His ticket number was 250654, the ticket for all the members of Wallace Hartley's orchestra. His cabin was 2nd class and he was the only Belgian musician aboard the Titanic. After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Krins and his fellow band members assembled in the first class lounge and started playing music to help keep the passengers calm. They later moved to the forward half of the boat deck, where they continued to play as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Krins was 23 years old when he died. His body was never recovered. Gallery File:RMS Titanic Musician's Memorial, Southampton.jpg|RMS Titanic Musicians' Memorial, Southampton File:RMS Titanic 3.jpg|The RMS Titanic See also * Crew of the RMS Titanic * RMS Titanic References Notes Bibliography * *Yvonne Hume, great niece of John Law Hume, author of: RMS Titanic 'The First Violin' the true story of Titanic's first violinist ISBN 9781840335217 (hardback) ISBN 9781840335514 (softback) RMS Titanic 'dinner is served' menus from the liner revisited and updated ISBN 9781840334845 Stenlake Publishing www.stenlake.co.uk Published in Canada by; Nimbus Publishing www.nimbus.ca RMS Titanic 'The First Violin' ISBN 9781551099187 Formac www.formac.ca RMS Titanic 'dinner is served' External links *Memorial to the Titanic Cellists ;Roger Marie Bricoux *Roger Marie Bricoux on Titanic-Titanic.Com *Association Française du Titanic ;Theodore Ronald Bailey *Theodore Ronald Brailey on Titanic-Titanic.com ;Wallace Hartley *Wallace Hartley on Titanic-Titanic.com *Wallace Hartley's Memorial on Titanic-Titanic.com *Wallace Hartley Information on [[Encyclopedia Titanica]] *More on the Issue of Music Played Near the Climax of the Disaster *Photo of Hartley's grave *Wallace Hartley's Family Tree ;John Law Hume (or Hulme) *John Law Hulme on Encyclopaedia Titanica *Photograph of John Law Hume's memorial in birth town of Dumfries, SCOTLAND ;Georges Alexandre Krins *Georges Alexandré Krins on Titanic-Titanic.Com *Photo of Georges Alexandré Krins Category:Belgian violinists Category:RMS Titanic's crew and passengers Category:Scottish violinists Category:English Methodists Category:English violinists Category:Bandleaders Category:Deaths on the RMS Titanic Category:People lost at sea Category:1912 deaths Category:People from Nièvre Category:French cellists Category:English pianists